Secure my Yr 12 insecurities.

[kevvy]

Heyy

So heres my insecurity...
I have no idea what to expect for year 12. First off i didnt do a unit 3/4 subject whilst in yr 11 and i sorta dont know how harsh the marking/expectation is. I had friends who were constantly saying 'x subject is super easy man im gonna get 45+ EASY'. They all ended up with low 30's.

I thoroughly envy them since they've already had a taste of yr12 and know what to expect.

Just really scared and worried, and feel very disadvantaged :S.

Anyone have advice?

[Kennybhoy]

Don't be arrogant.
Get plenty of sleep.
English is an important subject.

[burbs]

I think those people who assumed they would get 45+ scored lowly because of this hubris. From my one subject, if you put the effort in and work during the year, you should score quite well.
 Make sure you work off the study design, and do as many practice exams as you feel necessary. Don't be afraid to nerd it out a bit.

[ariawuu]

1. Use this website to your advantage; go ask questions and collect resources.
2. I have to say getting a 45+ is very hard that is you have to be top 2% of the state to be in this category, thats losing the minimal marks as you can.
3. Sleep well, eat well, relax and prepare well.
4. Believe in yourself!
5. A 'bad' atar isnt the end of the world; just give your best shot!

[echenzi]

Remember, Atar's are valid for a month.

Good friends and memories are there for life.

Enjoy year 12, last year of high school. Enjoy learning, enjoy the formals, enjoy the whatever.


Have FUN! But do take care of yourself

[dptjandra]

At the end of the day, you'll do as well as you can, if you put in as much work as you can.  In terms of the harshness of the marking, it is quite thorough in the sense that they look for certain things to give marks for - just make sure you answer a question FULLY (which is different to just putting down one sentence for an answer).  The actual assessment probably won't seem too hard if you have a good knowledge of the course (hence why your friends might have thought they did better than they actually scored), but getting all the marks involves quite a lot of work - don't take the sample answers on the assessor's reports as "perfect models" - just put in as much detail as you can!

Also, do not, not, not, not, not neglect English...a good English score can boost your ATAR so much (and vice versa...)

Don't worry too much - it's important that you come out of the exams feeling like you've done well and then being able to put the ATAR out of mind until it gets closer to release day!  The wait between end of exams and release of results in longer than the length for which the ATAR is actually significant

[bomb]

I didn't do any subjects in y11 and did all 6 this year. So don't worry, it's not so bad

[ohmyjosh]

KEY TO SUCCESS: Never slack off but don't forget to have a good time.

and besides, your ATAR does not foretell how successful you are in life. The key is and always was in your hands.. you just gotta realize it.

[kyzoo]

I had friends who were constantly saying 'x subject is super easy man im gonna get 45+ EASY'. They all ended up with low 30's.

.....lol I went into Methods in Y11 thinking that getting a 40 in Methods would be a miracle

[bomb]

I had friends who were constantly saying 'x subject is super easy man im gonna get 45+ EASY'. They all ended up with low 30's.

.....lol I went into Methods in Y11 thinking that getting a 40 in Methods would be a miracle

Weren't you the one who got "raped" in both Spesh exams for a 50?

[werdna]

I had friends who were constantly saying 'x subject is super easy man im gonna get 45+ EASY'. They all ended up with low 30's.

.....lol I went into Methods in Y11 thinking that getting a 40 in Methods would be a miracle

I wish I had this mindset.

[bomb]

I had friends who were constantly saying 'x subject is super easy man im gonna get 45+ EASY'. They all ended up with low 30's.

.....lol I went into Methods in Y11 thinking that getting a 40 in Methods would be a miracle

I wish I had this mindset.

Haha I thought I wouldn't make Bachelor of Science at UoM with a 89. Even right up until the last few seconds before the SMS. It made the score even better.

[Slumdawg]

Don't ever get cocky. It'll only make you work less and disappointed when results come out (coupled with the fact that cocky people are usually quite arrogant, which is never a good quality to have in the first place!)

Perhaps this is what was the flaw of your friends who thought they were guaranteed 45+? I guess people should never really underestimate the difficulty to get such a score. Even if the subject is considered "easy", VCE is the whole of victoria not just a small bunch of people so it's gonna be competitive no matter what. Some subjects can be quite deceiving as the concepts can be easy or quite understandable although the subject is then usually marked more harshly to help distinguish the As and A+s from the Bs and C+s (cough psych cough), so be careful with ones like that.

I think a lot of people fall into a false sense of security with sacs (I'm talking more about lower level schools, as I witnessed this at my own school), I know a lot of my friends thought "Yay I'm doing well in sacs, I'm good at this subject...hmm I probably don't need to study too much for the exam then." I know I personally never relied on my sacs, I tried to block my sac scores out completely. I knew the exams were the main determinant of my scores so I focused most of my effort into preparing for them.

Getting high scores is achievable through hard work, knowing your course work well, doing practice exams, discovering certain tips and tricks that are specific to the subject you're doing, and also a bit of luck.

I guess you're lucky in a way that you have two mid year exams so you'll at least be ahead of those who didn't do a 3/4 in year 11 and have no mid years. And you'll be able to judge where you stand when you get your mid year results, so that'll also help for end of years.

I wish you all the best of luck!

[funkyducky]

I think your friends don't know that 45+ = Top 2% of the state, not 45/50 = Top 10%. Even so, it can be a rude awakening; I know a few of my friends who slacked off and thought their 3/4s were easy as hell, then ended up with low-30s Study Scores.

I think it's important to gauge the level required to reach your goals. Know that 40+ usually requires A+s for all your GAs, so if you're averaging Bs, for example, expect a mid-to-high 30 SS.

The key to achieving highly is aiming to do the best work that you're capable of; having tangible goals, and putting in the hard yards to reach those goals. It seems that the only advantage your friends have gained from doing 3/4s in Year 12 is that they're egos have been bruised, and they've learnt that 45+ isn't a breeze. If you can understand that, you will avoid disappointment.

EDIT: As almost everyone has already stated, arrogance is a major pitfall. I aimed for 45+, but unlike your friends, I didn't think "LOL it's so easy, everyone else is dumb, I'm guaranteed a 45+", I thought "if I work really hard to understand the concepts and not mess up, maybe I'll get my dream SS", and it worked.

[EvangelionZeta]

Work solidly, but don't lose perspective.  VCE is just a stepping stone in life.  An important stepping stone, of course, but just one of many nevertheless.  As a result, if things become too stressful at any point, just reassure yourself that even if things go badly, there will still be a way.  =)

Of course the other thing to do is to just study and work off VN resources - seriously, if you're conscientious and use the forums right, you can't really go wrong.  =)